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The Buffalo Bills offensive line has had its up-and-downs. In recent years, the group has mostly been average, but one player from the unit did sneak inside a list from Pro Football Focus.
The football analytics outlet ranked the top-32 offensive tackles heading into the 2023 season. Manning the left since of Buffalo’s offensive line since 2017 has been Dion Dawkins. He slipped into the No. 31 position on PFF’s ranking.
Here is PFF’s breakdown on Dawkins:
Dawkins has never really developed into a top-class run blocker, but the former second-round pick has never earned a season-long PFF pass-blocking grade lower than 76.0 across his six years in the NFL.
While the Bills do traditionally use their finances elsewhere on the roster leading to spotty O-line play, Dawkins has long been an anchor of the group. That’s why he earned a four-year extension during the 2020 offseason.
Naturally, PFF can’t hit everything with their fancy stats. But it’s worth noting that Dawkins came to the Bills at a crucial time. Buffalo was a doormat of the NFL for decades before the team started to turn things around in 2017 when coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane were hired.
While that front office duo gets plenty of praise for “changing the culture” in Buffalo–their first draft class deserves similar praise. Dawkins was part of that and has long been a team captain . A valuable asset analytics can’t measure.
The 29-year-old is a two-time Pro Bowler.
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